JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A federal appeals court will hear the appeal of a former Mississippi Highway Patrol worker who is asking for a new trial on charges that he fixed traffic tickets.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans will hear arguments Jan. 9.
James Smith was convicted in 2011 on federal charges of making or providing false or fraudulent statements to the government.
He had worked for the Highway Patrol for 17 years and was director of driver records.
Smith was sentenced to three years' probation.
Prosecutors say Smith altered three speeding tickets and falsely recording that a driver had attended a defensive driving school in 2008. But Smith's attorneys say the government failed to prove he violated federal law.
